The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-18
PRISON FARE.
A Theory, with Some Facts to Sustain 1t
that Convicts Are Too Well Fed


A Theory, with Some Facts to Snstain 1t,
that Convicts Are Too Well Fed
Boston Herald.
institution in Massachusetts, and has always
remarked that the most sensitive point with the
warden or superintendent IS the feeding depart
ment, and more anxiety is II snlfested TO demon
strate the excellence and abundance of the food
supplied, than to show adequate punishment
appreciate reform of the criminal. 1t is gen.
orally acknowledged that the eating and sleep
ing accommodations of most convicts in this
/ philanthropic are far superior to those which
they enjoyed ~ in their homes, if they had
homes
A peculiar and interesting bit of history has
been furnished to the writer, illustrative of the
virtuous and criminal anomalies of life and
bearing the point here considered. Two men,
who were brought up in the same neigh borhood
were contemplating a crime. One of them had
a decided bent for criminal life; the other had
not but very poor. He withstOod the
tempter, and finally decided to keep out of the
adventure entirely. He assured that to-
gether they would find the venture perfectly
safe. and that ne would be sure of his half of
$4,000 worth of booty. He would not bulge an
inch. but agreed to keep still; the other deciding
and 81. 900 in gold and Jewels secured and
adroitly concealed within % feet of the looted
jewelry store, but for lack of alert pal to
stand picket, the burglar was captured and he was
sent to prison for Six years term. he was
more than wellfed, and came out of prison fat
His booty had not been discovered, and. with
he did not dare to show anywhere, he soon had
it all converted into cash. His friend, who had
committed no crime, Jared harder. He
poor and. from inability to procure work, he be-
came unable to do work. He ''came" upon the
town." and was sent to the town farm" where
he slept with vermin and never got decent
meal or a suficiency of food of any sort At the
end of the penal term of his neghbor he YVES an
emaciated, demoralized appearing specimen of
humanity but his would be pal gave him ST., 900
and released him from his worse than prison
like confinement.
In the preparation of this article three men
have been interviewed-a lawyer, an exwarden
and an ex-convict From different stand points
they substantially reach the same conclu sion.
Said the ex-convict
Eyes, / have been unfortunate enough to be
confined in prison, but, God knows, never had
any leaning toward q bad life. If l had, 1
wouldn't say anything about prison fare any
how. There time when L didn't care
what did and the first knew I was in for five
years"
GLOW was the foodl"
"Well, / had a notion that prison fare was
pretty tough. but didn't find it SO at ALL 1t
was far better than l expected. and nearly all
the new men said the very same thing The
old ones who had been in several times said
the feed was o. K, and that the fine grub was
what made prison life endurable. But them
they said, we must all howl about the feed,
and keep up q complaint, az to get better
still ~
DO you think the prisoners are fed too
well4"
THAT depends pretty much what you
think prison is for"
''Well, suppose you say it is for punishment"
''Well, it is certain there amt much punish
rnent in the grub"
take it the reform tack. then; doesn't the
plentiful supply of wholesome food tend to re-
form a mani"
IF he's a man, or has got the making of man
in him he'll reform anyhow, but the trouble is
most of them are hard cases and good food don't
help them a cents worth They don't appreciate
the motive for it and it don't DO them any good
1 have doubt that they would be likely to
do something wrong again all the sooner for it.
ID a11r a6ork r1a k,otn
of them / don't know. though; it's pretty
small part of them that touched by such
food is dished out in your State prisons. 1t
is too good for the worst of them and nowhere
nigh good enough for the best of them
isn't it an excellent thing to strike an aver
age in this natter!"
every case by itself You might reform some
prisoners by dressing them in a nice suit of
stylish clothes"
The ex- warden declared that 'there is a craze
for giving sugar. honey and cookies to prisoners.
Why, it would cost any man his place if he
should attempt to treat a criminal as he deserves
to be treated. We are pampering our law
breakers and cut-throats, and, as often as there
is a reasonable excuse, these desperadoes
treated to turkey dinners and all the goodies.
Sentimental women and sillier men are playing
the mischief with law, courts and prisoners and
the strain is getting so great that before long
there will be more than a snap somewhere"
''Then you believe that convicts are fed too
weq"
''Of course do. This Mandy pambyism is
lanthropists who urging the 'amelioration'
of the convicts lot entirely forget that these
hardened villains have been committing horrible
murders, and even worse crimes. The trouble
is a criminal becomes, to such people. a sort of
semi hero. and they conjure up all they of
ideal qualities for him. They clothe him with
their ilnaginings, and then try to minister
to the unreal criminal that their minds have
created all the while ignoring the actual mon
ster behind the bars No. sir. l believe that in
the matter of food have gone too far, and
that in this direction the ends of justice de-
feated"
The lawyer had an opinion which he guard
eddy expressed.
My theory is" said he, "that should be
imprisoned to deter them from the commission
of crime, and deter others also. A prison
should be place that man never wants see
the inside OF more than once"
How does the food question affect your
theoryl;
''Of convict must not be starved;
neither should he be fed on unwhoesome food;
but am afraid that our modern reformatory
ideas do not work deterrents from crime. 1
am not that the fare is plain enough
to create that wholesome dread Of incarceration
which may be properly fostered, even in the food
department. just look at it. We inflict hard
ships convcts in every other direction. but
there is great cutlery if the prison diet falls be-
low the sentimen tai humantarian's standard, or,
rather, notion. l believe should pursue such
a with criminals will tend to deter
men from committing crime"